“Every nation should invest in the Arts” Do you agree?

These few posts will be a collection of my own writings, either written during exams or normal school practice. I'm posting them here to keep a collection of these writings in somewhere I can always find them.

Anderson Junior College
JC 1 Term 3 Practice Question 2007
“Every nation should invest in the Arts” Do you agree?

Art can come in many different forms, whether it is in the visual form of paintings and sculptures, literary form of poetry and drama or even the audio form of classical music. In most countries that we see, the Arts cannot support themselves, they have to depend on subsidies from the government or private establishments, only that way can the awareness of Arts be raised. Even in richer countries, not all areas if Art can be fully developed, should the money be spent in fully developing the Arts or should the funds be directed to other areas of concern such as the starvation problem in poorer countries? Although it seems crucial for the government to aid the Arts scene, we must not forget this ethical question.

As suggested earlier, the Arts are seldom able to support themselves. If there are no forms of subsidies forthcoming, the Arts scene may perish, which is a pity. Take for example the traditional Thai dance, it is a part of Thailand which shows it past and traditional roots. It is an inheritance from the past Thai empire and perhaps one of the few links back to the lifestyles of their ancestors. What will be lost along with the dance is the culture and heritage of the Thais, this lost cannot be measured in monetary values, thus the ‘true’ cost of the lost is much heavier than it can be imagined. Public money spent in such a venture is thus for a worthy cause and will definitely be worth spending.

One should also be long sighted and realize how can investing in the arts now help in the long run. Using public funds to develop the arts scene may be seen as a head start to allow the arts scene to be independent. We should look beyond the funds spent now and weigh the pros can cons on a long term basis. The money spent on the arts now may be used in other sectors such as defence and education which are undeniably important due to the positive externalities arised. However, sufficient amount of investment in the arts will encourage the public to get involve, relieving the economic burden on the government such as the case of Singapore public funds are used for the promotion of the arts festival, organizing competitions thus encouraging the public to support the arts scene. The government will no longer need to continue spending money on the arts when the arts become self-sufficient, it will thus be lending a helping hand rather than throwing in money completely.

On the other hand, this may not seem applicable to all countries as suggested by the question. Developing the arts should not be at the extent of depriving those in need of the public funds for survival. In the promotion of arts, the nation may forget about the needy ones who could make use of these funds for survival. In developing countries like Utopia or Cambodia, the funds that the government chose to invest in the arts could be used to save the starving people instead. The suffering people will be more deserving of the funds, after all, we are saving lives, something that is more evident than seeing the arts scene decline. In this case, it seems more ethical for us to spend the money on the less fortunate as they will definitely appreciate it more.

In my opinion, this issue should be views on a case by case basis, richer countries may have the ability to support the arts without much sacrifice, poorer nations however, can make better use of the funds, helping starving people, for a better cause. Maybe the time has not come for all nations to be heavily involved in promoting the Arts, but I believe in time to come, all nations should have the economic ability to do so. In our charitable hearts to direct funds to the poor, I do not think it is completely impossible to savage the dying heritage in the country either. Countries may choose to encourage minority races to keep their traditions for a cause, it is more important to see the meaning of promoting the arts scene rather than invest heavily without knowing the true cost.

Comments: This is a remarkable essay! It’s lucid and passionate. However, you need to work harder on providing evidence to support your stand and conviction.
Score: 44.5/50

It’s a high score mainly because a new teacher marked this, he gave really high scores on the whole(: